Melting-furnace.



T. F. BAILY & F. T. COPE.

MELTING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.4. 1917- 1 ,272, 1 86. Patented July 9, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

T. F. BAILY & F. T. COPE.

MELTING FURNACE.

APPLICATTON FILED SEPT. 4, 19! 7- 1 ,272, 1 $6. Patented July 9, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

EQWWW I T. F. BAILY & F T. COPE.

MELTING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTA. 1917- 1,%72,186. Patented July 9,1918;

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Fran/'2; 527 0,276.

amen/15m;-

T. F. BAILY & F. T. COPE.

MELTING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 4, I917.

Patented July 9, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

THADIDEUS F. DAILY AND FRANK T.

ELECTRIC FURNACE COMPANY, OF

COPE, 0F ALLIANCE, OHIO, ASSIGNORS T0 'IHE ALLIANCE, OHIO, A. CORPORATION OF OHIO.

MELTING-FURNACE.

Application filed September 4, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THADDEUS F. BAILY and FRANK T. Corn, citizens ofthe United States, both residing at Alliance, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Melting-Furnace, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in furnaces wherein a current of electricity passed through resistance material is employed to produce the necessary heat, and has more especial reference to a melting furnace in which one or more resistance troughs are located above and surround the hearth upon which the material to be melted is placed.

The object of thepresent invention is to generally improve electric furnaces of this type by more properly concentrating the heat therein upon the material to be melted.

Another object is to so dispose the walls of the furnace that the greater part of the heat therein will be either radiated direct, or reflected upon the hearth containing the material to be melted.

A further object is the provision of a furnace of the character referred to in which one or more resistance troughs are located above and surround or partially surround the hearth.

A still further object is the provision of a furnace of this type in which a concave or conical roof is provided in combination with a concave hearth and one or more resistance troughs are located between the roof and hearth, a central opening being provided through which heat rays may be reflected from the roof to the hearth.

' pended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size and minor details of construction may be made within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a, vertical sectional View Specification of LettersPatent.

erably formed of Patented July 9, 1918. Serial No. 189,466.

through a circular furnace constructed in accordance with our invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22, Fig. 1. F Fig.' 3 is a section on the line 3-3, of

Fig. 4 is a section in the line 44, Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55, Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a view partly in elevation and partly in longitudinal section of a rectangular furnace constructed in accordance with our invention.

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77, Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 88, Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view showing the terminal construction of one of the electrodes such as are usedin each form of the furnace.

Similar numerals of reference indicate figures of the drawings.

Referring more especially to the construction illustrated in Fig. 1 to Fig. 5 inclusive, of the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a metal plate upon which the base 2 of the furnace is supported, this base being composed of suitable insulating material such as bricks formed of kieselguhr, a metal plate 3 being preferably located upon said brick base and supportin the brickwork 4 pref- Ere brick and provided with the concave hearth 5 which is lined with suitable heat resisting material and provided at one side with a reduced neck 6 having a pouring spout 7. A circular wall 8, formed of fire brick or other suitable material is supported upon the brickwork 4 and a roof 9 preferably concave as shown, is provided over said circular wall, thus forming a heating chamber between the hearth, roof and circular wall.

Mounted within the heating chamber intermediate the hearth and roof thereof and spaced from the circular side wall, is a re-. sistance trough 10, preferably circular as shown. This trough is filled with a resistance body, consisting of a carbonaceous material in granular form, such as crushed coke, graphite, carbon or the like, said resistance body being designated by the numeral 11. The trough is preferably formed of refractory material or the like and comprises the bottom wall 12 and the circular upright walls 13, and is supported upon the radial supporting walls 14, composed of fire brick or other suitable heat resisting macorresponding parts throughout the several terial. Embedded in the resistance material, preferably at diametrically opposlte sides of the trough are the'electrodes" 1 1 said electrodes extending through the furnace walls as best shown in Figs. 2 and 6. It will be understood that the electrodes lt should be arranged in an electric circu1t .such construction beingwell known in this art, electric wires being connected to the terminals of the electrodes and leading to .a suitable sourceof electricity. When the current is supplied to the electrodes it will be conducted from one electrode to the other through the resistance material, thus raising the resistance material to an intense heat.

A metal casing 16 is preferably provided around the furnace and it will of course be understood that furnaces of this type can be mounted so that they may be tilted to pour to be melted, while those rays which radiate upwardly from the trough will strike the arched'roof and although a portion of the heat willbe absorbed by the roof the greater majority will be reflected through the central opening in the trough upon the material upon the hearth. By, this construction the greater majority of the heat which radiates from the resistance material in the form of heat rays will either strike directly or be reflected back upon the hearth, thereby maintaining the working hearth at a high temperature. It will, of course, be understood that it is not necessary to form the roof in the shapeof an arch, as a roof formed of angular walls arranged with proper relation to the resistance through the hearth will produce equally favorable results.

In Figs, 6 to 8 inclusive is illustrated a modified form of the invention, showing a rectangular furnace. Although only two resistance troughs .are shown in this form of the furnace it will be understood that,

resistance troughs may be provided around the four walls of the heating chamber or a continuous resistance trough may be pro Vided around the interior of the heating chamber without departing from the invention. This form of furnace is preferably fixedly mounted upon theiI-beams 18 and is provided with themetal plate 19 which rests upon said I-beams and carries the base portion 20 formed of heat insulating brick or the like, a metaltank 21 being locatedabove'said fire brick base and carrying the hearth 22 provided with a suitable lining 23, said hearth being-channel shaped as shown in the drawings, the bottom there- The resistance troughs 26 arecircuit. An arched roof 29 is provided upon the heating, chamber of the furnace and a metal casing 30 covers'the entire furnace and is supported by means of the structural iron frame 31. Door openings 32 are provided in opposite ends of the furnace and are arranged to be closed by means of the doors 33 which are carried upon cables 34 and operated'by means of fluid cylinders35, This latter construction, however, is covered in former'patents granted to the applicants and no claim is made to the specific construction thereof.

When it is desired to charge the furnace the cylinders 35 are operated to open the doors after which the metal may be placed in the hearth and the doors closed. When the metal has been melted the plug 36 is re moved from the spout 25 allowing the metal.

to run through the neck 24 and spout 25,

Babbling holes37 are provided in the side walls of the furnace.

In this form of the furnace as well as the other'form it will be seen that there is a complete circulation around the resistance troughs and that the greater part of the heat generated from the resistance troughs is either radiated directly upon the hearth containing the metal to be melted or is re flected by means of the arched roof between the troughs and upon the hearth. .With this construction it has been found that a high temperature can be maintained upon the hearth as the heat radiating downwardly from the resistance trough is supplemented by the heat reflected by the roof the heat rays from the two sources tending to bring the bottom of the heating chamber to a high temperature. The heat radiated from the sides of the trough in the present construction is of-cour'se not wasted as it maintains the centerof the heating chamber 7 tains sand 'or other heat insulating material for forming a seal at the joint of the roof of the furnace. This roof is preferably a1;-

'ranged'approximately in the same horizontal plane as the resistance trough in order that it, may be raised to allow access to the resistance trough when it is desired to recharge the same. For the purpose of easily raising or lowering the roof when desired, spaced radially. disposed internal screw threaded lugs 41 are provided upon the metal casing of the roof, which lugs are located directly above the lugs 42 carried by the casing of the furnace, shafts 43 being located through said lugs and provided upon their upper extremities with screw threaded portions 44 engaging the internal screw threads of the lugs 41. Sprocket wheels 45 are provided upon the lower extremities ofthese shafts, all of the sprocket wheels being connected by means of a chain 46 and one of the shafts is provided with a beveled gear 47 which meshes with a beveled gear 48 mounted upon the shaft 49, the

hand wheel 50 being provided for rotating said shaft, thereby rotating all of the shafts 43 in unison and raising and lowering the roof a sufficient distance to allow access to the resistance trough.

We claim:

l.- In an electric furnace of the resistance type the combination of a heating chamber,

a hearth located in the bottom of said heating chamber, a resistance trough located above said hearth and extending around the walls of the heating chamber and a roof.so arranged above said resistance troughthat heat rays radiating upwardly from said trough will be reflected upon said hearth from while heat rays radiated downwardly 'rectly said resistance trough will strike upon said hearth.

2. In an electric furnace of the resistance type, the combination of a heating chamber,

. a hearth located at the bottom of said heating chamber, a continuous resistance trough located above said hearth and rovided with a central opening and a roof so arranged .above said resistance trough that heatjrays radiating upwardly from said resistance a trough will be reflected through said central opening upon said hearth while-heat rays radiating downwardly from said resistance trough will strikedirectly upon said hearth.

3. In an electric furnace of the resistance type, the combination of a heating chamber, a hearth located. in the bottom of said heating chamber, acircular' resistance element located above said hearth and a roof so arranged above said resistance element that heat rays radiating upwardly from said resistance element will be reflected upon said hearth while heat raysradiating downwardly from said resistance element will strike directly upon said hearth.

radiating downwardly from said resistance element will strike directly upon said hearth. 5. In an electric furnace of the resistance type, the combination of a circular heating chamber, a concaved hearth located in the bottom of said heating chamber, a circular resistance element located above and spaced from said hearth and provided with an open center, a roof so arranged above said resistance element that heat rays radiating u wardly from said resistanceelement will lie reflected through the central opening thereof upon said hearth while heat rays radiating downwardly from said resistance element will strike directly upon said hearth, a

spout connected with said hearth and means for tilting the furnace to pour the melted metal from said spout.

6. In an electric furnace of the resistance type, the combination of a heating'chamber, a hearth located in the bottom of said heat ing chamber, radial walls provided within said heating-chamber above said hearth, a continuous resistance element supported upon saidradial walls and spaced from the inner walls of the heating chamber and a roof so arranged above said resistance element that heat --rays radiating upwardly from said resistance element will be reflected through the center thereof upon said hearth,

while rays radiating downwardly from said "resistance element will strike directly upon said hearth.

7.v In an electric furnace of the resistance type, the combination of a' heatin chamber, a hearth located in the-bottom 0 said heating chamber, spaced walls rovided within said heating chamber around the inner walls thereof-and extended above said hearth, a resistance element supported upon said spaced walls and spaced from the inner walls of the heating. chamber and a roof so arranged above said resistance element that heat raysradiating upwardly from said resistance element will be reflected upon said hearth, while heat rays radiating down wardlyfrom said element will strike di rectly upon said hearth.

y In testimony that we claim the above, we

have hereunto subscribed our names.

THADDEUS F. BAILY. FRANK T. corn; 

